Friday

May 3, 2019 at 8:00 AM

The ’100 Males to College’ program, a state initiative, helps guide students of color, especially boys, through the college admission process.

BROCKTON — When Xavier Andrade got the big envelope in the mail from Assumption College in March, he figured it was yet another informational packet. Then he opened it and saw a letter that said, “Congratulations!”

With that acceptance letter, Andrade, 18, became the first one in his immediate family to get into college. He bounded downstairs to tell his mother right away.

College had always been the goal for Andrade, but getting there was an intimidating prospect — especially because his parents had not gone to college, and they could not shepherd him through the application process.

“I knew I wanted to go, I just didn’t know where,” Andrade said.

In 11th grade, Andrade was recruited to a program called “100 Males to College.” With help from the program, Andrade toured colleges, discussed career options and applied for admission and financial aid. He will start working toward a bachelor’s degree in accounting this fall.

The state Board of Higher Education runs the “100 Males to College” program. The program aims to vault more students of color, especially boys, into colleges in Massachusetts. The program has been running chapters in Framingham, Salem, Springfield and Worcester for three years, but this is the first year students from Brockton have completed the program.

On Wednesday, Andrade attended a celebratory dinner at Massasoit Community College with the other young men in the program.

Speaking at the dinner, Patricia Marshall of the Board of Higher Education noted that black and Latino men are, statistically speaking, the people least likely to hold college degrees. She said programs like “100 Males to College” can help reverse that trend.

“You belong in college, and we are here to support you,” she told the room of high school seniors and their families. Almost 90 percent of the program’s participants are headed to college in the fall.

Michael Walsh of the Division of Student Success and Diversity at Bridgewater State University, helps run the program in Brockton. He said he works with guidance counselors and other staff at Brockton High School and Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School in Easton to identify students who could benefit from the program. Walsh said the program targets students with potential, but who might need help getting focused on college.

“They’re good kids, but have not yet fully been engaged in high school,” Walsh explained.

In the program, Walsh said, the students talk about the importance of education, the college application process and the cost of college. Students visit campuses, including Massasoit and Bridgewater State, where they meet college students and professors. The high school students also take college-level courses in high school.

“The goal is to expose kids to the college environment,” Walsh said. “They don’t necessarily see themselves on our campus, but once we bring them to our campus, it really demystifies what it means to be a college student.”

With that experience, he said, the boys can start to envision a future in which they attend college.

The program provides students with laptops, which they use to fill out online college applications, write their essays and apply for federal financial aid. Walsh and other mentors guide the students through the entire application process, making sure they hit deadlines and understand complicated financial aid forms.

For Marco Morais, 17, the program made sense of college admissions — and helped him chart a course toward a bachelor’s degree in computer science.

Morais is the first person in his family to go to college, so the process of getting accepted to college was a little mysterious. Morais always figured sports would bring him to college, he said. He was a sprinter for Brockton High’s track team, and hoped to win an athletic scholarship. He dreamed about running track for Boston University.

But Walsh and others gave him some insight on the admissions process. Morais said he learned he would need better grades to get into college. Frank discussions about debt helped Morais decide that the traditional campus experience wasn’t worth taking out a student loan. He decided to start at a community college this fall, before transferring to a four-year school to finish a bachelor’s degree.

“This program showed me a whole lot,” Morais said with a laugh.

With guidance from Walsh and other mentors, Morais decided to put all his energy into academics: he quit the track team, sitting out his senior season. Morais has been making Brockton High’s honor roll this year.

Morais will enroll in Quincy College this fall, and wants to take courses in computer science and business. He will also start an internship with a Boston finance firm in the fall.

After two years of guidance in the program, Morais said he feels like a different person.

“The program helped me transition from being an athlete to being a good student,” he said.

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